Both Warpaint and Chvrches are hitting Australia in a week as part of the Laneway Festival 2014 lineup. And you can bet that the former Scottish trio’s singer, Lauren Mayberry, will be side of stage when Warpaint perform their closing set at each leg of the festival.
The Chvrches frontwoman has publicly expressed her love for the “brave and uncompromising” LA four-piece in a sophisticated review of Warpaint’s new self-titled album.
Mayberry’s piece is the latest in a series of artist-on-artist assessments engineered by the team at The Talkhouse, the same website that brought you the must-read review of Kanye West’s Yeezus by Lou Reed (R.I.P.) and the hilariously bizarre Drake write-up from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.
As you’d expect of the 25-year-old vocalist, who wrote one of the best anti-misogynist pieces in recent memory, the Chvrches singer’s succinct appraisal is intelligently written, beginning with questioning: “Can you really say you like a band when you only have one record to base that on?”
But as Mayberry writes, off the basis of 2010 debut album The Fool, the all-female indie rock band are a group worth getting excited about. “Warpaint are one of those bands, and their self-titled second album is one of those albums. And (spoiler alert) it didn’t disappoint. If anything, it exceeded my expectations by quite some way,” notes Mayberry; further elaborating:
I love the feel of it. There is atmosphere. There is ambiance. The shoegaze elements of previous material are alive and well (enhanced by Flood’s production and the touches added by Nigel Godrich), exemplified through the Bat For Lashes-esque vocal of “Biggy,” the woozy, Moog’ed-up shoegaze of pre-album single “Love Is to Die,” and the synth-heavy, downtempo “Teese.”
The fellow Laneway act also praises the band’s “tight, undulating rhythm section of bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg and drummer Stella Mozgawa” as well as influences she hears, such as St. Vincent, Le Tigre, “vintage MIA”, and even David Lynch. But: “Sounds which do not seem like they should go together; songs that don’t even seem like they should be on the same record as each other, somehow belong.”
Mayberry also reveals she’s seen Warpaint twice before (“me = delighted both times”), but you can expect that tally to rise when the pair being their Australian tour with Laneway Festival 2014 later this month.
Warpaint’s new record was issued in Australia last week, with the band announcing a ‘secret’ Laneway 2014 Sideshow to celebrate its release. Taking place after the sold out Melbourne and Sydney legs of the festival, the secret show will be held “at an eerie yet beautiful location in the inner western suburbs of Sydney on Wednesday 5th February,” with the gig’s location to be revealed to ticket-holders on the day of the concert.
Chvrches are also playing Laneway 2014 sideshows in Melbourne – at the end of the month – and Sydney in early February. Today the Glaswegian electro trio tweeted that “a very ltd number of tix to our previously sold out @Lanewayfest sideshows just went back on sale http://chvrch.es/shows.”
Both bands are also featuring alongside the strong female contingent of bands featured on the Laneway Festival lineup, including the likes of Haim, Lorde, The Jezabels, Adalita, and Savages, as well as Frightened Rabbit, Vance Joy, Four Tet, Jagwar Ma, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and many more.
Warpaint Laneway 2014 Sideshow
Wednesday 5th February – Sydney, venue TBA
Full venue details revealed on the day | Tickets & info here
CHVRCHES Laneway 2014 Sideshows
Wednesday, 29 January – Forum Theatre (18 +) Melbourne, VIC
w/ Elizabeth Rose
Tuesday, 4 February – Metro Theatre (All ages) Sydney, NSW
w/ Elizabeth Rose
also performing at:
Laneway Festival 2014 Dates & Venues
View the full Laneway Festival 2014 Timetables and Maps here.
Brisbane: Friday 31st January – RNA Showgrounds, Fortitude Valley
Melbourne: Saturday 1st February – Footscray Community Arts Centre/River’s Edge – SOLD OUT
Sydney: Sunday 2nd February – Sydney College Of The Arts, Rozelle – SOLD OUT
Adelaide: Friday 7th February – Harts Mill, Port Adelaide
Perth: Saturday 8th February – Esplanade Park and West End, Fremantle
Tickets and info at http://lanewayfestival.com/
